Stewart Airport’s Air National Guard facility – the 105th Airlift Wing - has opened a new fi rehouse on the airport’s grounds. Actually, the site of the warehouse abuts the tarmac of the airfi eld. According to Assistant Fire Chief John Wilson, Firefi ghters will be able to reach any part of Stewart Airport inside of three minutes or less. The project was launched after two years of construction and the wait was worth it since the fi rehouse is not only much easier for fi refi ghters to live in, and include 18 bunkrooms, a fi rst rate kitchen and recreation area (including a pool table and a foosball table), the laundry room and the TV lounge, complete with eight comfy-looking reclining chairs. The fi rehouse also has the most up to date technical facilities. To sum up, General Verle L. Johnston, Commander of the 105th Air Wing said; “this is really state of the art. It’s a fi rst-class operation.” One of the other aspects that makes the house a welcome sight in the county is the fact that it will provide back up to neighboring stations in the county. In fi refi ghter terms, this is called “mutual aid calls”.

American Airlines, the only major U.S. carrier without a position in a big airline alliance that has been granted antitrust immunity by the U.S. government, is worried that a House bill that could roll back all such alliances in three years will put it at a severe competitive disadvantage, said Will Ris, senior vice

president of government affairs for the AMR Corp. unit. Speaking at an aviation conference here Thursday, Mr. Ris said American is “real concerned” that the bill, introduced by Rep. James Oberstar (D., Minn.), will change the rules of the game just as his airline is trying for the third time to win antitrust immunity to strengthen its ties with British Airways PLC. “All these other alliances have formed and are perking along,” he said. “We’re struggling to get authority to get in the ball game.” Rep. Oberstar, chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, wants to revisit the issue of whether the big airline alliances are hurting consumers and eroding competition on international routes. As part of a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, he has added language that would require a study of the alliances and possible new criteria for carriers to meet.

Continental Airlines became the fi rst U.S. carrier to inaugurate scheduled service between New York and Shanghai, China, with daily nonstop fl ights from the airline’s hub at Newark Liberty International Airport. The new service will provide daily nonstop fl ights in the largest U.S.- China market that today lacks daily service, linking the world’s fi nancial center and top business and tourism destination with China’s center for fi nance and trade, according to a press release obtained by Xinhua. Chinese Consul General in New York Peng Keyu delivers a speech during an inauguration ceremony at Newark Liberty Internaitonal Airport in New Jersey, the United States, March 25, 2009. Continental Airlines Wednesday became the fi rst U.S. carrier to inaugurate scheduled service between New York and Shanghai, China, with daily nonstop fl ights from the airline’s hub at Newark Liberty Internaitonal Airport. With the success of the Beijing Olympics showcasing modern China to the world, and the upcoming Expo in Shanghai in 2010, Continental expects to see increased demand for service between the United States and China over time, according to the press release.

Can you identify this month’s aircraft? The winner will receive an honorable mention in next month’s issue. Contest Rules: Limit your entry to 100 words. Send your entry by emailing airprtpres@aol.com (preferred) or fax to 718-995-3432. Include your name, title and employer.

The aircraft in this month’s Airport press is the Avro 683 Lancaster B1, Aircraft Reg.# PA474. The aircraft is named “City of Lincoln”. The Avro Lancaster was a British fourengine Second World War bomber aircraft made initially by Avro for the British Royal Air Force. It fi rst saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley-Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within RAF Bomber Command. The “Lanc” or “Lankie,” as it was affectionately known, became the most famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers, “delivering 608,612 tons of bombs in 156,000 sorties.” Although the Lancaster was primarily a night bomber, it excelled in many other roles including daylight precision bombing, and gained worldwide renown as the “Dam Buster”. The Lancaster is a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with an oval all-metal fuselage. The wing was constructed in fi ve main sections, the fuselage in fi ve sections. All wing and fuselage sections were built separately and fi tted with all the required equipment before fi nal assembly. The tail unit had twin oval fi ns and rudders. The Lancaster was initially powered by four wing-mounted Rolls- Royce Merlin piston engines with threebladed airscrews. It had retractable main landing gear and fi xed tail-wheel, with the hydraulically operated main landing gear. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The mission was carried out by 617 Squadron in modifi ed Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. The story of the mission was later made into a fi lm, The Dam Busters, Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which fi rst disabled and later sank the ship. Lancasters from Bomber Command were to have formed the main strength of Tiger Force, the Commonwealth bomber contingent scheduled to take part in Operation Downfall, the codename for the planned invasion of Japan in late 1945, from bases on Okinawa. Fifty-nine Lancaster B.I and B.VII were overhauled by Avro at Woodford and Langar and delivered to the Aeronavale (France) during 1952/53. These were fl own until the mid-1960s by four squadrons in France and New Caledonia in the maritime reconnaissance and search-and-rescue roles. Other correct entries were received from: Dr. John Goutos of the JFK Medical Offi ces, Jon Hjelm, FAA Certifi cation Offi ce, Frank Harris, World Wide Flight, Armand Carvallo, Griffi th Security, Ken LeMar of MCS Calibrations, Neil Poppe of American Airlines.

South African Airways (SAA) fl y’s Victor Mooney to Senegal for his solo row to Brooklyn. Following Chinese custom of having noodles when one leaves, Mooney, (43) of Queens and his Shanghaiborn wife Su-ping share a bowl today at John F. Kennedy International Airport for a safe row home. Mooney will make his second attempt to row 8,000 miles from Goree Island, Senegal (West Africa) to New York’s Brooklyn Bridge for AIDS awareness and global warming. For more on Mooney’s, journey visit www.goreechallenge.com